Information processing apparatus, method of controlling the same, and storage medium

ABSTRACT

An information processing apparatus divides a screen of a display unit into a first display area for displaying a list of application items for a user to select an executable application and a second display area for displaying information regarding a state of the screen or a state of the information processing apparatus, and decides a display position of the first display area when the occurrence of an anomaly is detected. The apparatus displays the list of application items in the decided first display area whose display position is decided, and displays information regarding the anomaly in the second display area. The decided display position of the first display area is a position in which the size of the first display area is smaller than in the case in which an anomaly is not detected.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, amethod of controlling the same, and a storage medium.

Description of the Related Art

Multi-function peripherals and printers in recent years are, similarlyto PCs (personal computers), often equipped with a display device thathas high expressiveness and that can display graphics such as windows,icons and buttons on a screen. Such a display device that has highexpressiveness will, for example, be about seven to ten inches in sizejust with the display unit alone, and is therefore not suitable forcompact multi-function peripherals or printers in terms of the balancewith the size of the main body. If the size of the main body of theapparatus is determined in accordance with the size of such a displaydevice, the size of the main body increases, and the advantages as acompact apparatus are lost. Moreover, even with display devices thathave high expressiveness, there are more compact display devices, but ifsuch compact display devices are adopted, the cost is high, and itbecomes impossible to compete in price competition in the printermarket. For this reason, with compact multi-function peripherals andprinters, there is a tendency for compact display devices with lowercost to be adopted, even if the expressiveness is poor.

With such multi-function peripherals and printers, it is demanded, inthe case where an anomaly occurs, for example, to display the content ofthe anomaly as a message on the display device. This is because there isa possibility that the anomaly that has occurred (for example, a statein which a consumable component has reached the end of its life andprinting cannot be performed) will inhibit a user from executing anapplication, and thus it is necessary to notify the user that theanomaly has occurred.

In such a case, in the above-described display device having highexpressiveness, information regarding an application and device stateinformation can be displayed at the same time, as described in JapanesePatent Laid-Open No. 2003-140798, for example. Specifically, the screenis divided into an application display area and a message display area,and the necessary information is displayed in each of the areas, wherebyit is possible to notify the application that is being executed and amessage to the user at the same time. Accordingly, the user can confirmthe content of the anomaly displayed in the message display area whileperforming an operation of instructing the execution of a desiredapplication in the application display area. Accordingly, if it isdetermined that the anomaly influences the execution of the applicationthat is being operated, it is possible to take measures for cancelingthe anomaly. In contrast, a compact display device having poor displaycapability has a small screen and a limited display area, and thus theabove technique cannot be adopted.

For example, as shown in FIG. 11A, with a display device having a screenthat can display only four lines of text, on a home screen, three linesare used as an application display area 1101 for displaying a list ofapplication item names for selection.

In this state, if, for example, an out-of-paper occurs in the printer,one line is used as a message display area 1102 in order to inform theanomaly to the user, in order to notify the anomaly content as shown inFIG. 11B, for example. With the message, the user is then informed thata cassette 1 has run out of paper. At this time, the remaining two linesare assigned to the application display area 1101.

However, for example, with a one-line message such as is shown in FIG.11B, even if it is possible to inform an out-of-paper, it is notpossible to inform a counter measure for resolving the out-of-paperstate. That is, in the example in FIG. 11B, the user knows that anout-of-paper state has occurred in the cassette 1, but cannot determinewhat size and type of paper the cassette 1 needs to be replenished with.

In view of this, for example, as shown in FIG. 11C, it is alsoconceivable to use one more line as the message display area 1102, andto display the paper size and paper type (here, A4 and plain paper) inaddition to the above-described anomaly notification. However, in thiscase, only one line can be assigned as the application display area 1101for displaying the application item names for selection, and it becomesdifficult for the user to perform an operation of searching for andselecting an application to execute.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An aspect of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentionedproblems with conventional technology.

A feature of the present invention is to provide, even with a displayunit having a display screen with poor display capability, a techniquethat makes it possible to present information regarding an anomaly thathas occurred to a user, without deteriorating the operability of theuser to instruct an application.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is providedan information processing apparatus for controlling display on a displayunit, comprising: a detection unit configured to detect an anomaly; adecision unit configured to divide a screen of the display unit into afirst display area for displaying a list of application items for a userto select an executable application and a second display area fordisplaying information regarding a state of the screen or a state of theinformation processing apparatus, and to decide a display position ofthe first display area when the anomaly is detected by the detectionunit; and a control unit configured to control to display the list ofapplication items in the first display area whose display position isdecided by the decision unit when the anomaly is detected by thedetection unit, and display information regarding the anomaly in thesecond display area, wherein the display position of the first displayarea that is decided by the decision unit is a display position in whichthe first display area is smaller than in a case where the anomaly isnot detected by the detection unit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of controlling an information processing apparatus forcontrolling display on a display unit, comprising: detecting an anomaly;dividing a screen of the display unit into a first display area fordisplaying a list of application items for a user to select anexecutable application and a second display area for displayinginformation regarding a state of the screen or a state of theinformation processing apparatus; deciding a display position of thefirst display area when the anomaly is detected in the detecting; anddisplaying the list of application items in the first display area whosedisplay position is decided in the deciding when the anomaly is detectedin the detecting, and displaying information regarding the anomaly inthe second display area, wherein the display position of the firstdisplay area that is decided in the deciding is a display position inwhich the first display area is smaller than in a case where an anomalyis not detected in the detecting.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to theattached drawings).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and,together with the description, serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an imageforming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for describing a configuration of a controllerof the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 depicts a top view of an operation panel of the image formingapparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIGS. 4A and 4B depict views illustrating examples of a home screen thatis displayed on a display unit of the operation panel of the imageforming apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for describing error message display processingperformed by the controller of the image forming apparatus according tothe first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for describing processing for deciding a startposition of an application item display area by the controller of theimage forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for describing processing for deciding an endposition of the application item display area by the controller of theimage forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIGS. 8A and 8B depict views showing examples of a home screen displayedon the display unit of the operation panel when an anomaly occurs in theimage forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIGS. 9A to 9D depict views showing examples of an application screendisplayed on the display unit of the operation panel when a user selectsa print application and an anomaly occurs in the image forming apparatusaccording to the first embodiment.

FIGS. 10A and 10B depict views showing examples of a home screendisplayed on a display unit of an operation panel when an anomaly occursin an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIGS. 11A to 11C depict views for describing a problem to be solved bythe present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter indetail, with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to beunderstood that the following embodiments are not intended to limit theclaims of the present invention, and that not all of the combinations ofthe aspects that are described according to the following embodimentsare necessarily required with respect to the means to solve the problemsaccording to the present invention. Note that in the embodiments, theinformation processing apparatus of the present invention will bedescribed using an image forming apparatus as an example, but thepresent invention is not limited to such an image forming apparatus,and, for example, a mobile terminal, a compact printer and communicationapparatus or the like may be adopted.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of animage forming apparatus 100 according to a first embodiment of thepresent invention.

The image forming apparatus 100 is connected to a data processingapparatus 101 via a network such as a LAN or an interface cable. Theimage forming apparatus 100 is, for example, an image forming apparatus(printing apparatus) having a printer engine 104 of anelectrophotographic type or the like, or may be a multi-functionperipheral (MFP) further having a scanner function and a FAX function.For example, the data processing apparatus 101 is a computer device suchas a PC, and functions as a data supply source of printing informationand the like to the image forming apparatus 100. A controller 103functions as a control unit that controls the operations of the imageforming apparatus 100, and controls display processing on an operationpanel 102, processing in accordance with instructions from the userinput via the operation panel 102, copy processing using a scanner, andthe like. The controller 103 also controls the operations of a printerthat generates raster data for each page based on information such aspage description language (hereinafter, PDL) supplied from the dataprocessing apparatus 101 and sends the raster data to the printer engine104 to be printed, for example. The printer engine 104 forms (prints) animage by forming a latent image on a photosensitive drum based on theraster data supplied from the controller 103, transferring the latentimage onto a recording medium (sheet) and fixing the latent image, forexample. The operation panel 102 functions as a user interface and has adisplay unit having a touch panel function and a key operation unitincluding hard keys, and instructions from the user input via theoperation panel 102 are sent to the controller 103. Accordingly, thecontroller 103 can execute various applications in accordance withoperations performed by the user via the operation panel 102.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for describing the configuration of thecontroller 103 of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the firstembodiment.

A panel I/F (interface) unit 201 controls an interface to the operationpanel 102. A CPU 209 receives, via the panel I/F unit 201, varioussettings and instruction contents input by the user via the operationpanel 102. A host I/F unit 202 bidirectionally communicates with thedata processing apparatus 101 such as a host computer via a network. Anintermediate data generation unit 203 converts the print data of a printjob received from the data processing apparatus 101 via the host I/Funit 202 into intermediate data that is easily handled by the imageforming apparatus 100. A ROM 204 holds program code that is executed bythe CPU 209. A RAM 205 functions as a main memory of the CPU 209, and isused for temporarily saving programs and various types of data. The RAM205 is also used as a storage region for the print data received via thehost I/F unit 202, the intermediate data generated by interpreting theprint data, and bitmap data generated by rendering the intermediatedata. Furthermore, the RAM 205 is also used for storing variousprocessing statuses, log information and the like necessary for otherprocessing. An engine I/F unit 206 controls an interface between thecontroller 103 and the printer engine 104. The CPU 209 recognizes thestate of the printer engine 104 via the engine I/F unit 206. A DMAcontroller 207 is used for DMA-transferring the bitmap data stored inthe RAM 205 to the engine I/F unit 206. A rendering unit 208 renders theintermediate data stored in the RAM 205 into bitmap data. The CPU 209controls devices connected to a bus 220 based on control program codestored in the ROM 204. An EEPROM 210 is a nonvolatile memory for holdingthe setting information of the image forming apparatus 100 and the like.A media I/F unit 211 reads/writes various types of data such as imagedata, program data, device setting data from/to removable media 230 suchas a USB memory. A job controller 212 is a module of a program held inthe ROM 204, and at the time of execution, the program is deployed inthe RAM 205 of the controller 103, and is executed under the control bythe CPU 209. Data received from the data processing apparatus 101 viathe job controller 212 is saved as a print job in the RAM 205 by the CPU209, which then executes print processing. The CPU bus 220 includes anaddress bus, a data bus, and a control bus, and the CPU 209 can accessand control all the devices connected to the CPU bus 220. Note that theintermediate data generation unit 203, the rendering unit 208 and thejob controller 212 may be constituted by hardware, or the functionsthereof may be achieved by the CPU 209 executing the above-describedprograms.

FIG. 3 depicts a top view of the operation panel 102 of the imageforming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment.

The CPU 209 outputs data that is displayed on a display unit 350 to theoperation panel 102 via the panel I/F unit 201. A home key 351 is a keyfor instructing to display the home screen, and when this home key 351is pressed, the display is always switched to the home screen whateverscreen is being displayed. A return key 352 is a key for instructing toreturn to the screen that was displayed immediately before the currentscreen. A power saving key 353 instructs to shift to a power savingstate in which the power consumed by the image forming apparatus 100 issuppressed. A status confirmation key 354 is a key operated when theuser confirms the status of the image forming apparatus 100, and bypressing this status confirmation key 354, the user can confirm anabnormal status of the image forming apparatus 100, a status of theprint job that is being processed by the image forming apparatus 100,and the like. Cursor keys 355 are keys for moving a cursor that isdisplayed on the display unit 350, and can move the cursor in thedirections of left, right, up and down arrows. An OK key 356 is a keyfor selecting an item instructed using the cursor on the display unit350, and instructing the execution of the item. A numeric keypad 357enables numerals and signs displayed on the keys to be input. A clearkey 359 is used for clearing information input using the numeric keypad357. A stop key 360 is a key for instructing the image forming apparatus100 to stop the job that is being executed.

FIGS. 4A and 4B depict views showing examples of the home screendisplayed on the display unit 350 of the operation panel 102 of theimage forming apparatus 100.

FIG. 4A shows a view illustrating an example of a home screen after thecontroller 103 is started by operating a power supply button (notillustrated). FIG. 4B depicts a view illustrating an example of a homescreen displayed when the user operates one of the cursor keys 355 shownin FIG. 3 when the screen in FIG. 4A is displayed. Here, assume that thedisplay unit 350 can display four lines of messages and the like.

An icon 401 is an icon indicating that this screen is the home screen. Atext 402 is text display indicating that this screen is the home screen.An icon 403 is an icon indicating a communication connection status of awireless LAN (Local Area Network). Items 405 and 406 indicateapplication items that can be executed in this image forming apparatus100. Here, the item 405 indicates an application for secured printing,and the item 406 indicates an application for media printing forprinting data stored in memory media. A scroll bar 404 is a key forscrolling the list of application items. Reference numerals 407 to 410are used for displaying the remaining toner amounts of Y, M, C and Ktoner cartridges of the printer engine 104.

When the cursor key 355 is operated in a state shown in FIG. 4A, acursor 420 moves to the application item 405 and “secured printing” isselected as shown in FIG. 4B. Furthermore, at this time, instead of thedisplay of the remaining amounts 407 to 410 of the toner cartridgesdisplayed FIG. 4A, an application item 421 “paper setting” is displayed.Accordingly, the user can easily jump to a screen for setting the sizeand type of paper to be printed for “secured printing”. Note that thescroll bar 404 has different display modes in accordance with the numberof application items that are displayed, the position of the cursor 420,and the like.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for describing error message display processingperformed by the controller 103 of the image forming apparatus 100according to the first embodiment. Note that a program for executingthis processing is stored in the ROM 204, and at the time of execution,is deployed in the RAM 205 and executed under the control by the CPU209.

First, in step S501, the CPU 209 determines whether or not an anomalyhas occurred in the image forming apparatus 100. If it is determined instep S501 that an anomaly has occurred, the CPU 209 advances theprocedure to step S502, but otherwise the procedure is advanced to stepS507. In step S502, the CPU 209 determines whether or not the screenthat is currently displayed on the display unit 350 is an error statusscreen displayed by operating the status confirmation key 354. If it isdetermined here that the current screen is the error status screen, theprocedure is advanced to step S506, but otherwise the procedure isadvanced to step S503. In step S506, the CPU 209 displays apredetermined error message that is based on the content of the anomalythat has occurred in the image forming apparatus 100, and ends thisprocessing.

However, if it is determined in step S502 that the current screen is notthe error status screen, the CPU 209 advances the procedure to stepS503, where it is determined whether or not the screen that is currentlydisplayed on the display unit 350 is the home screen as shown in FIG.4A, for example. If it is determined in step S503 that the currentscreen is the home screen, the CPU 209 advances the procedure to stepS506, where an error message is displayed as will be described laterwith reference to FIG. 8A, for example, and ends this processing. InFIG. 8A, for example, instead of the icon 401 and the text 402 that weredisplayed in the first line on the screen in FIG. 4A and indicate thatthe current screen is the home screen, the type of the error as well asthe paper size and paper type for handling the error are displayed.Therefore, two application items 405 and 406 can be displayed in theapplication item display area 1101. Accordingly, compared to FIG. 11Cabove, the display area 1101 for displaying application item names forselection can be extended.

Note that a display area for the icons 401 and 403 and the text 402 inFIG. 8B is a display area for displaying information related to thestate of this image forming apparatus 100, the state of a screen (homescreen) and the like.

If the CPU 209 determines in step S503 that the current screen is notthe home screen, the procedure is advanced to step S504, where it isdetermined whether or not the screen that is currently displayed on thedisplay unit 350 is an application screen that will be described laterwith reference to FIGS. 9A to 9D. If it is determined here that thecurrent screen is not an application screen, the procedure is advancedto step S507 and the CPU 209 ends this processing without displaying anerror message. If it is determined in step S504 that the applicationscreen is being displayed, the procedure is advanced to step S505, andthe CPU 209 determines whether or not the screen that is currentlydisplayed on the display unit 350 is in particular a status confirmationscreen as shown in FIG. 9C out of application screens that will bedescribed later with reference to FIGS. 9A to 9D. If so, the CPU 209advances the procedure to step S506, where the CPU 209 displays an errormessage using a screen that will be described later with reference toFIG. 9D, and ends this processing. Otherwise, the CPU 209 advances theprocedure to step S507 and the CPU 209 ends this processing withoutdisplaying an error message.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for describing processing for deciding a startposition of the application item display area by the controller 103 ofthe image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment. Notethat a program for executing this processing is stored in the ROM 204,and at the time of execution, is deployed in the RAM 205 and executedunder the control by the CPU 209.

The application item display area is an area in which the applicationitems 405, 406 and 421 in the home screen in FIG. 4B as described aboveare displayed, for example. In the example in FIG. 4B, a configurationis adopted in which only four lines in total can be displayed in thehome screen, and thus the application item display area is constitutedby three lines, namely the second line to the fourth line. The top lineis used as a screen hierarchy display area for displaying the icon 401and the text 402 indicating that the current screen is the home screen.Therefore, in the example in FIG. 4B, the start position of theapplication item display area is the second line in which theapplication item 405 is displayed.

Note that, here, it is assumed that the number of lines in the displayarea of the display unit 350 is four, a start position As of theapplication item display area at a normal time is As=2 (=As0) as shownin FIG. 4A, and the start position As at the time of an anomaly is As=3(=As1) as shown in FIG. 8A, for example. In addition, the case will bedescribed in which an end position Ae of the application item displayarea is the fourth line that represents the last line.

First, in step S601, the CPU 209 determines whether or not an anomalyhas occurred in the image forming apparatus 100. If it is determined instep S601 that an anomaly has occurred, the CPU 209 advances theprocedure to step S602, where the start position As of the applicationitem display area is decided to be the start position As1 of theapplication item display area at the time of the occurrence of ananomaly. This corresponds to the third line in which the applicationitem 405 is displayed on the screen in FIG. 8A that will be describedlater. On the other hand, if the CPU 209 determines in step S601 that ananomaly has not occurred, the procedure is advanced to step S603, wherethe start position As of the application item display area is decided tobe the start position As0 of the application item display area at anormal time, and this processing is ended. This start position As0corresponds to the second line in which the application item 405 isdisplayed in the above-described screen in FIG. 4B, for example.

As described above, according to the flowchart in FIG. 6, the startposition As of the application item display area in the home screen canbe decided depending on whether or not an anomaly has occurred in theimage forming apparatus 100. That is, when an anomaly has occurred inthe image forming apparatus 100, the first line and second line in thedisplay unit 350 are respectively used as display areas for the contentof the anomaly and a counter measure for the anomaly, and the displaystart position of application items is set to the next position (thirdline).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for describing the processing for deciding the endposition of the application item display area by the controller 103 ofthe image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment. Notethat a program for executing this processing is stored in the ROM 204,and at the time of execution, is deployed in the RAM 205 and executedunder the control by the CPU 209. For example, in the above-describedexample of the home screen in FIG. 4B, the end position of theapplication item display area is the fourth line in which theapplication item 421 is displayed.

Note that, here also, it is assumed that the number of lines in thedisplay area of the display unit 350 is four, the start position As0 ofthe application item display area at a normal time is As0=2 as in FIG.4A, and the start position As1 at the time of an anomaly is As1=3 as inFIG. 8A, for example. Moreover, an end position Ae0 of the applicationitem display area at a normal time is Ae0=4 as in FIG. 4A, and an endposition Ae1 at the time of an anomaly is Ae1=4 as in FIG. 8A, forexample.

First, in step S701, the CPU 209 determines whether or not an anomalyhas occurred in the image forming apparatus 100. If it is determinedhere that an anomaly has not occurred, the procedure is advanced to stepS705, and if it is determined that an anomaly has occurred, theprocedure is advanced to step S702. In step S702, the CPU 209 determineswhether or not Na≥(Ae1−(As1−1)). Here, As1 is the start position of theapplication item display area at the time of an anomaly, as describedabove. Na is the number of target applications that are displayed in theapplication item display area, Ae0 is the end position of theapplication item display area at a normal time, and Ae1 is the endposition of the application item display area at the time of an anomaly.If it is determined in step S702 that the above condition is satisfied,the CPU 209 advances the procedure to step S703, where the end positionAe of the application item display area (here, 4) is decided to be theend position Ae1 of the application item display area at the time of ananomaly, and ends this processing. The end position at this timecorresponds to the position of the application item 406 (here, “memorymedia”) in the fourth line on the screen in FIG. 8A that will bedescribed later. Accordingly, for example, the number Na of applicationitems targeted for display is “two”, and at the time of an anomaly, theend position Ae1 of the application item display area is the “fourth”line and the start position As1 of the application item display area isthe “third” line.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S702 that the abovecondition is not satisfied, the CPU 209 advances the procedure to stepS704, where the CPU 209 decides the end position Ae1 of the applicationitem display area to be ((As1−1)+Na), and ends this processing. In thiscase, the end position Ae1 of the application item display area at thetime of an anomaly is decided using the start position As1 of theapplication item display area at the time of an anomaly and the numberNa of application items that are displayed. In this case, for example,in the above-described example, the number Na of applications targetedfor display is two or less, and thus an application item is displayed inonly lines indicated by As1 (here, the third line), leaving the fourthline blank.

Moreover, in step S705, the CPU 209 determines whether or notNa≥(Ae0−(As0−1)). Again, Na is the number of applications targeted fordisplay in the application item display area, Ae0 is the end position ofthe application item display area at a normal time, and As0 is the startposition of the application item display area at a normal time that isdescribed above. If the CPU 209 determines in step S705 that the abovecondition is met, the procedure is advanced to step S706, where the endposition Ae (here, 4) of the application item display area is decided tobe the end position Ae0 of the application item display area at a normaltime, and this processing is ended. This corresponds to the position ofthe application item 421 (“paper setting”) in the fourth line in theabove-described screen in FIG. 4B. In this manner, as many applicationstargeted for display as possible can be displayed.

On the other hand, if the CPU 209 determines in step S705 that the abovecondition is not met, the procedure is advanced to step S707, where theend position Ae0 of the application item display area at a normal timeis decided to be ((As0−1)+Na), and this processing is ended. In thisstep S707, applications targeted for display are displayed within fourlines or less.

FIGS. 8A and 8B depict views showing examples of a home screen displayedon the display unit 350 of the operation panel 102 when an anomaly hasoccurred in the image forming apparatus 100 according to the firstembodiment. Note that in FIGS. 8A and 8B, portions that are in commonwith the above-described screens in FIGS. 4A and 4B are denoted by thesame reference numerals. FIGS. 8A and 8B show an example of a screen towhich the screen transitions from the home screen shown in FIG. 4A whenthe CPU 209 detects an anomaly in the image forming apparatus 100. Here,while the CPU 209 is detecting the anomaly of the image formingapparatus 100, the screens in FIGS. 8A and 8B are toggled and displayedon the display unit 350 of the operation panel 102 via the panel I/Funit 201 at a predetermined time interval.

In FIG. 8A, an error message 801 is an error message indicating theanomaly of the image forming apparatus 100 detected by the CPU 209.Here, it is displayed that “cassette 1” is out of paper, and the papersize and type are displayed. The application items 405 and 406 indicateapplication items that can be executed in the image forming apparatus100 similarly to FIG. 4A. Again, the display of the scroll bar 404 forapplication items changes in accordance with the number of applicationitems and the position of the cursor on the application items.

In FIG. 8B, the icon 401 and the text 402 are an icon and text displayedfor indicating that this screen is the home screen.

In the state where a home screen such as in FIG. 4A that is describedabove is displayed, the user has an operational desire to select anexecutable application and instruct execution thereof. However, in thecase where an anomaly occurs in the image forming apparatus 100 that isrelated to the execution, the user also has a desire for informationregarding the anomaly.

In view of this, the screens in FIGS. 8A and 8B are screens forsatisfying those desires of the user in the case where an anomaly occursin the image forming apparatus 100. In FIG. 8A, the CPU 209 displays,using the error message 801, an error message corresponding to theanomaly that is occurring at that time, and further displays theapplication items 405 and 406 that are executable. However, from FIG. 8Aalone, the user cannot see at which position in the screen hierarchythis screen is located, and thus the CPU 209 indicates to the user thatthe current screen is the home screen by toggling and displaying thescreens in FIGS. 8A and 8B. That is, in FIG. 8B, the CPU 209 displays,as a content indicating the position of the current screen in thehierarchy, the icon 401 and the text 402 for indicating that the currentscreen is the home screen, as well as the application items 405 and 406that are executable.

The display start position of the executable application items 405 and406 in FIG. 8B is different from that in FIG. 4B in order to prevent thepositions of the items 405 and 406 from varying while the screen in FIG.8B and the home screen at the time of the occurrence of an anomaly inFIG. 8A are toggled and displayed. At the time of the occurrence of ananomaly, the CPU 209 toggles and displays the screens in FIGS. 8A and8B, but if the screens in FIGS. 8A and 4B were toggled and displayed,the display positions of the application items 405 and 406 would movevertically, every time the user switches the screens. There is a riskthat, when the user wants to execute desired processing, this makes itdifficult for the user to perform the operation of selecting a desiredapplication from the application items 405 and 406. Therefore, thedisplay positions of the application items 405 and 406 in FIG. 8B arematched to those in the home screen in FIG. 8A that includes errormessage display, whereby the display positions of the application items405 and 406 are fixed during the toggle display so as to not confuse theuser.

FIGS. 9A to 9D depict views showing examples of an application screendisplayed on the display unit 350 of the operation panel 102 when theuser selects a print application in the image forming apparatus 100according to the first embodiment and an anomaly occurs. In FIGS. 4A,4B, 8A and 8B, the text in each line is provided with a frame, and thusonly four lines of text can be displayed on the display unit 350, but inFIGS. 9A to 9D, the frame of each of the lines is omitted, and thus amaximum of five lines of text can be displayed.

FIG. 9A shows an example of a setting screen to which the screentransitions in the case where the application “memory media” 406 isselected on the screen in FIG. 8A, or the application “memory media” 406is selected in FIG. 8B. Also, FIG. 9B shows an example of a settingscreen to which the screen transitions in the case where an application“select file and print” 901 is selected in FIG. 9A. Furthermore, FIG. 9Cshows a screen example to which the screen transitions in the case where“FILE.jpg” of a folder A is selected in FIG. 9B, and FIG. 9D shows ascreen example displayed when the designated cassette has run out ofpaper. Here, the screens in FIGS. 9C and 9D are toggled and displayed ata predetermined time interval.

In the state in which the screen shown in FIG. 9A is displayed, theuser, in order to execute a target application, has a desire toefficiently designate specific execution contents and execute theapplication. In addition, when an error occurs, the user can recognizethe content of the error in the home screen as shown in FIG. 8A, forexample. Therefore, for example, in the case where the screentransitions to the screen of an application in FIG. 9C, an error messagedoes not need to be constantly displayed. Therefore, on an applicationscreen, the CPU 209 uses the entire screen as an application displayarea for instructing the execution of the application, without reducingthe display area by displaying an error message as in FIG. 8A. Notethat, there is a possibility that the error that is occurring influencesthe execution of the application, and thus as in FIGS. 9C and 9D, anerror message is also displayed by toggling. At this time, in FIGS. 9Cand 9D, similarly to the cases shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B that aredescribed above, the position of an area 902 for displaying applicationexecution contents such as “print start”, the number of copies, thepaper size and paper type is fixed, so as to prevent the user fromhaving difficulty in performing operations during the toggle display.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, even with ascreen with poor display capability, application information necessaryfor operations by the user as well as the specific content of an anomalyand the counter measure for the anomaly at the time of the occurrencethereof can be presented to the user, while minimizing the deteriorationin operability for the user.

Second Embodiment

In the above first embodiment, in the case where the image formingapparatus 100 detects an anomaly, as in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the screen fordisplaying an error message and the home screen in which an errormessage is not displayed are toggled and displayed. On the other hand,in the second embodiment, instead of a plurality of screens beingtoggled and displayed, an error message is displayed in a home screen,and the error message is displayed as scrolling text. Note that theconfiguration and system configuration of the image forming apparatus100 according to the second embodiment are similar to those in theabove-described first embodiment, and thus description thereof isomitted.

FIGS. 10A and 10B depict views showing examples of a home screen that isdisplayed on the display unit 350 of the operation panel 102 when ananomaly occurs in the image forming apparatus 100 according to thesecond embodiment of the present invention. Note that in FIGS. 10A and10B, portions that are in common with the above-described screen in FIG.4A are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In FIGS. 10A and 10B, reference numerals 1001 and 1002 indicate errormessages that correspond to the contents of the anomaly of the imageforming apparatus 100 detected by the CPU 209. Here, the CPU 209displays text indicating a message while gradually moving the text froma display state denoted by 1001 in the left direction with the lapse ofa predetermined time. While passing through a display state denoted by1002, the movement of the text in a predetermined direction is repeatedsuch that the text is displayed so as to appear to be flowing. Note thatthe movement direction of this text may be the right direction.

In addition, this method of displaying text while moving the text in thepredetermined direction may be adopted in FIG. 9D in the above firstembodiment.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, even with ascreen with poor display capability, application information necessaryfor operations by the user as well as the specific content of an anomalyand the counter measure for the anomaly at the time of the occurrencethereof can be presented to the user, while minimizing the deteriorationof operability for the user.

Other Embodiments

Embodiments of the present invention can also be realized by a computerof a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executableinstructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium(which may also be referred to more fully as a ‘non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium’) to perform the functions of one ormore of the above-described embodiments and/or that includes one or morecircuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) forperforming the functions of one or more of the above-describedembodiments, and by a method performed by the computer of the system orapparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computerexecutable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functionsof one or more of the above-described embodiments and/or controlling theone or more circuits to perform the functions of one or more of theabove-described embodiments. The computer may comprise one or moreprocessors (e.g., central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit(MPU)) and may include a network of separate computers or separateprocessors to read out and execute the computer executable instructions.The computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer,for example, from a network or the storage medium. The storage mediummay include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-accessmemory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributedcomputing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD), digitalversatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™), a flash memory device, amemory card, and the like.

While the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of thefollowing claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2015-139107, filed Jul. 10, 2015, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing apparatus having aplurality of functions, comprising: a display; and at least oneprocessor and at least one memory coupled to the at least one processorand having stored therein instructions that, when the at least oneprocessor executes the instructions cause the information processingapparatus to: display an operation screen on the display, including afirst display area and a second display area, wherein the first displayarea is scrollable and capable of displaying information regarding theplurality of functions or a part of the plurality of functions, andwherein the second display area displays, when an anomaly does not occurin the information processing apparatus, a name of the operation screenfor displaying the information regarding at least a part of theplurality of functions; toggle information to be displayed on the seconddisplay area based on whether an anomaly occurs in the informationprocessing apparatus; in a case where the anomaly occurs in theinformation processing apparatus, control to display, the second displayarea to be larger than the second display area is displayed in a statein which the anomaly does not occur, and display the first display areato be still scrollable and to be smaller than the first display area isdisplayed in a state in which the anomaly does not occur and fixing thedisplay position of the first display area; and control to toggle theinformation to be displayed on the second display area, between theinformation that was displayed in the second display area in a casewhere the anomaly did not occur and information regarding the anomaly.2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe at least one processor executes the instructions further to control,toggle and display a first screen for displaying the informationregarding the anomaly in the second display area and a second screen fordisplaying a state of a screen in the second display area.
 3. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the atleast one processor executes the instructions further to control,display text indicating the information regarding the anomaly in thesecond display area while moving the text in a predetermined direction.4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe at least one processor executes the instructions further to control,when an application corresponding to information selected in the firstdisplay area is started, to transition to a setting screen of theapplication, and, if the anomaly occurs in the information processingapparatus, to display the information regarding the anomaly on a statusconfirmation screen of the application, and not display the informationregarding the anomaly on the setting screen.
 5. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the at least oneprocessor executes the instructions further to control, in the switchinformation, to toggle and display a status confirmation screen thatincludes the information regarding the anomaly and a status confirmationscreen that does not include the information regarding the anomaly. 6.The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein theat least one processor executes the instructions further to control todisplay, on the status confirmation screen that includes the informationregarding the anomaly, text indicating the information regarding theanomaly while moving the text in a predetermined direction.
 7. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theinformation regarding the anomaly includes a type of the anomaly andinformation regarding a counter measure for the anomaly.
 8. A method ofcontrolling an information processing apparatus having a display and aplurality of functions, the method comprising: displaying an operationscreen on the display, including a first display area and a seconddisplay area, wherein the first display area is scrollable and capableof displaying information regarding the plurality of functions or a partof the plurality of functions, and wherein the second display areadisplays, when an anomaly does not occur in the information processingapparatus, a name of the operation screen for displaying the informationregarding at least a part of the plurality of functions; togglinginformation to be displayed on the second display area based on whetheran anomaly occurs in the information processing apparatus; in a casewhere the anomaly occurs in the information processing apparatus,controlling to display, on the display, the second display area to belarger than the second display area is displayed in a state in which theanomaly does not occur, and display the first display area to be stillscrollable and to be smaller than the first display area is displayed ina state in which the anomaly does not occur and fixing the displayposition of the first display area; and control to toggle theinformation to be displayed on the second display area, between theinformation that was displayed in the second display area in a casewhere the anomaly did not occur and information regarding the anomaly.9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a programfor causing a computer to a method of controlling an informationprocessing apparatus having a display and a plurality of functions, themethod comprising: displaying an operation screen on the display,including a first display area and a second display area, wherein thefirst display area is scrollable and capable of displaying informationregarding the plurality of functions or a part of the plurality offunctions and wherein the second display area displays, when an anomalydoes not occur in the information processing apparatus, a name of theoperation screen for displaying the information regarding at least apart of the plurality of functions; toggling information to be displayedon the second display area based on whether an anomaly occurs in theinformation processing apparatus; in a case where the anomaly occurs inthe information processing apparatus, controlling to display, on thedisplay, the second display area to be larger than the second displayarea is displayed in a state in which the anomaly does not occur, anddisplay the first display area to be still scrollable and to be smallerthan the first display area is displayed in a state in which the anomalydoes not occur and fixing the display position of the first displayarea; and control to toggle the information to be displayed on thesecond display area, between the information that was displayed in thesecond display area in a case where the anomaly did not occur andinformation regarding the anomaly.
 10. The information processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein a scroll bar for scrolling thefirst display area becomes shorter when the anomaly occurs and thescroll bar is displayed beside the first display area.